Half-Asleep Promises
by Thepopcornpup
Summary: "It was one a.m., and the city of Manhattan was fast asleep. The lights of the towering buildings had been turned off, leaving nothing but the starry sky, clouded by pollution, to light the streets. But, when the city was asleep, that didn't necessarily mean that every person in it boundaries was, too." (Race and Romeo brotherly fluff) (One-Shot)
**Author's Note: Hello, hello, hello! Here we have a story that was not written with a pounding migraine or during a nervous breakdown, unlike my last two, so that's good! This story was a request by a guest (haha, that rhymes!) reviewer. The original prompt was for Race to comfort Romeo after a nightmare, and it just kind of evolved into this...whatever this is. I hope you like whatever this is!**

 **So, yeah, I do take prompts, just putting that out there! (Hint, hint. If you have any ideas at all...I'll write for movie-verse, too...hint, hint.) But, it usually takes me longer to write stories that are from prompts. Since I'm writing it for someone, I like to try and make it as good as I can! (This is basically just my way of letting the guest reviewer on "This Is A Roof" know that I am working on that prompt, so if you're reading this, just thought I'd let you know!)**

 **Well, that's enough ranting for one Author's Note! I hope you enjoy, and if you do, reviews always make my day! Thanks for reading!**

* * *

It was one a.m., and the city of Manhattan was fast asleep. The lights of the towering buildings had been turned off, leaving nothing but the starry sky, clouded by pollution, to light the streets. But, when the city was asleep, that didn't necessarily mean that every person in it boundaries was, too.

Racetrack Higgins laid on his cot, staring at the ceiling with heavy eyes. He wanted to close them, but he couldn't let himself, not until every last bit of the nightmare that plagued him had stopped replaying in his mind. Of course, seeing as this nightmare was a reoccurring problem, he wasn't sure that'd be anytime soon. But, the last thing he was about to do was tell anyone else about it, so he just laid there, trying desperately not to think.

Suddenly, a quiet thump and a furiously whispered" _Shoot_!" interrupted the silence that seemed to be drowning Race.

"What was that?" Race asked, pushing himself up and glancing over the side of his bed.

On the ground below him sat a small boy with a mop of almost-black hair that flopped over his annoyed and very-freckled face, grabbing his toe at an awkward angle. He pushed his scruffy bangs out of his eyes and looked up at Race. "Go back to sleep, Race." He muttered.

"What are ya doin', Romeo?" Race questioned, blatantly ignoring Romeo's request.

"I fell," Romeo explained shortly. "Stubbed my toe."

"Well, why were ya up in the first place?" Race probed in a hushed voice.

"Don't matter," Romeo grumbled, pushing himself up.

"Yeah, it do," Race countered.

Romeo rolled his eyes. "No, it don't. Couldn't sleep, alright?"

"Neither could I," Race said, climbing down his bunk ladder.

Romeo nodded vaguely, silently noting the fact that Race seemed just as wide-awake as he was.

"Where were ya goin'?" Race asked, hopping off the ladder and leaning against it.

"Who says I was goin' anywhere?" Romeo shot back grumpily.

"Well, ain't someone in a pleasant mood?" Race chuckled, giving Romeo a nudge.

"I don't wanna be awake right now," Romeo frowned.

"Then, go to sleep," Race teased.

"I would if I could!" Romeo whispered harshly, crossing arms around his stomach. "I just keep havin'- ah, never mind." He cut himself off and looked away from Race, feeling glad that it was dark so that Race couldn't see the blush he felt appearing on his face.

"Keep havin' what?" Race asked, looking at his brother curiously. "Nightmares?"

Romeo looked down at his feet. If he was going to do anything, it wasn't going to be telling Race he'd woken up crying with a nightmare, let alone that this happened often. I mean, this was Race we were talking about. He was strong, and probably the only guy in all of New York brave enough to look Spot Conlon in the eye and make one of the most sarcastic quips in existence, without fearing that the King of Brooklyn would soak him right then and there. He couldn't tell a guy like that that he'd been up for hours because of a bad dream.

But, the lack of a response was enough to give Race his answer. "Hey, Rome," Race said quietly. "You know how Jack's got that roof of his?"

Romeo nodded, looking at Race out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, well, Cowboy ain't the only one with a neat hidin' spot," Race smirked.

Romeo raised his eyebrow. "What do ya mean?"

"I'll show ya," Race grinned.

With that, the older boy led the younger one outside in near silence, letting the slight moonlight pouring in the windows guide them. They crept past Kloppman, each giving a backwards glance at him and practically holding their breath so not to wake him. They padded down the stairs and slipped out of the creaky front door. Romeo snapped the door shut behind them, and had to run a bit to catch up to Race.

"Where are we goin'?" Romeo asked as he instinctively reached for a hat that wasn't on his head.

"You'll see," Race replied simply.

The boys headed down the street, with Romeo struggling to keep up with Race, who clearly knew his destination, and wasn't about to slow down anytime soon.

"Do ya mind?" Romeo grumbled, jogging up Race. "I got short legs."

"You are short," Race smirked. "And, anyway, we'se almost there."

Race took a turn down an alley suddenly, and in the dark, Romeo didn't notice. The younger boy strode past the alley before hearing Race call, "Hey, over here!"

"What?" Romeo whipped around and looked for Race. He peeked in the alley and spotted Race sitting atop a stack of boxes, swinging his legs contentedly. "What's this?" Romeo asked.

"My hideout," Race announced, clearly pleased with himself. "You got nice seatin' 'round here, ya see," He motioned to the plethora of boxes around him. "But, then, back here, ya got-" He hopped off of the boxes and jumped behind them. Romeo stepped a little closer as Race peeked over the boxes and finished, "A barricade!"

Romeo laughed. "Where'd you even get these boxes?" He asked.

"I didn't," Race answered. "I actually got no clue where these came from. I just found 'em here when I was, like, seven, and me and Spot stacked 'em up and made a...thing. A hideout. Barricade."

"Do ya even know what's in them?" Romeo questioned, stepping over the boxes and joining Race behind his barricade.

"Nope," Race grinned. "But, hey, no one's ever moved 'em, so it don't matter to me."

Race leaned back on the brick wall behind him and stretched his legs out. Romeo followed his lead as he continued, "It's pretty neat, if I do say so myself. Nice place to come if you need a hidin' place. I gotta say, I'se probably saved myself from gettin' tossed in the Refuge again at least three times by hoppin' back here when the Bulls was on my tail."

Romeo raised his eyebrow and looked at Race. "Again?"

Race glanced at Romeo. "Oh, yeah, I'se been to the Refuge."

Romeo seemed to sit up a bit. "I didn't know that."

Race shrugged. "I don't talk about it. Don't wanna."

Romeo nodded. "I'se been there, too."

Now, it was Race's turn to sit up, his face a mix of shock, concern and anger. "Wait, what? You'se been there? When? You'se only, what, ten?"

"Eleven, I think," Romeo answered, looking up at the maze of ladders that the fire escapes above them made. "But, Jack has me tell people I'm ten. And, it was before I came to the Lodging House."

"Oh," Race looked up too as each boy left a million questions hanging in the air over them. Romeo tried to spot constellations as he attempted to sort out his thoughts.

"October," Romeo suddenly blurted out.

Race looked back at Romeo. "What?"

"In October, it'll have been two years since I was in the Refuge," Romeo mused. He paused a moment and swallowed. "I think Snyder recognizes me sometimes. I can't tell for sure, though. But, when he's around, he gives me this look, and it..." He glanced at the older boy, the one he thought was so much braver than him. He considered it for a moment before admitted, "It scares me."

Race, looking back up at the rooftops, nodded understandingly.

"He saw me today," Romeo continued. "And, he gave me that look. And, then...then, he started to walk up to me, so I just...ran. That's why I couldn't sleep. Had a nightmare about it. I don't wanna go back."

"I ain't never goin' back," Race said gravely. "There ain't nothin' anyone could ever do make me go back to that-that hell." His voice shook, taking Romeo by surprise. "I wasn't speakin' for a while afterward. They messed me up, bad."

Silence followed as both boys stared at the sky, lost in thought. Race could feel his heart slowing, and he realized that the tenseness from his nightmare was finally going away. He glanced at Romeo and saw that the younger boy looked calmer, too.

"Hey, you know, if you'se ever havin' other nightmares, you can wake me up," Race said sleepily, breaking the silence. "I'll probably be up anyway."

"Same goes for you," Romeo replied, stifiling a yawn. "You was havin' a nightmare tonight too, weren't ya? Is that why you was awake?"

Race nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, kid."

Another brief silence hung in the air before Romeo added, his voice sounding as if he were half-asleep already, "I'll make sure they never take ya back to the Refuge, Race. I promise."

Race felt a smirk tug at his lips. "Same goes for you," He said.

Suddenly, Race felt a weight on his shoulder. He looked over to see that Romeo had knocked out and was now using Race as a pillow. Race chuckled and scooped up the eleven-year-old in his arms. With that, he headed back to the Lodging House, ready to finally get some sleep.

* * *

 ** _Two Years Later_**

Race looked around at the commotion of guys throwing punches at each other and shouting frenziedly. "Damn it, Spot, just get over here with Brooklyn already," He muttered angrily, dodging through the crowd. At this point of the chaos, Race couldn't tell who was a scab and who was a brother of his. He couldn't find Jack Kelly; their great leader was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, someone grabbed his shoulder and whipped him around, and before he could have a second thought about it, Race was in a fist-fight with one of the scabs. Was it one of Delancey's, maybe? Who knew, at this point?

"Give up, kid," The scab growled, and Race quickly realized that it was, indeed, Oscar Delancey.

"Huh, Oscar, thought it was you," Race quipped, dodging a punch. "Coulda sworn I'd smelled sewer!"

"Shut up," Oscar narrowly missed a punch thrown by Race. "You ain't gonna be laughin' like that when they'se got you in the Refuge."

Race's face quickly darkened. "No way."

Race began fighting with heavily strengthened vigor, while Oscar kept making threats about the Refuge. Soon, the fight had gotten more intense than either boy had expected it to.

"Hey, idiot!" Someone shouted. "Get away from 'im!"

Before either could comprehend it, Romeo had barreled his way into the fist-fight and pushed Oscar over, glaring at him indignantly.

"Romeo," Race breathed, having had the wind knocked out of him. He took in Romeo's appearance, and saw that his left eye was very swollen and visibly throbbing. "Kid, you're hurt. Get outta here."

"No!" Romeo exclaimed. "I'm just as much part of the strike as you are, and besides, I made a promise."

Before Race could ask what this promise was, Morris had swooped in and punched Romeo beofe shoving the younger boy towards none-other-than Warden Snyder. Snyder glared daggers at Romeo, and in an instant, Race quickly understood what Romeo had meant when he'd said promise.

"Not on my watch!" Race cried, and grabbed Romeo's wrist. With that, they weaved through the crowd until Race spotted a very-familiar alley out of the corner of his eye. He dashed into the alley and pulled Romeo along with him. They climbed over the un-moved stack of boxes and practically collapsed behind their "barricade."

"Romeo, what-what was that about?" Race panted. "Snyder nearly got ya, Rome."

"I made a promise," Romeo replied, just as out-of-breath as Race was. "I ain't ever lettin' 'em take ya back there."

Despite himself, Race felt a grin appear on his face. "Really? In the middle of a ragin' mass-soakin', you remembered that half-asleep promise you made two years ago?"

Romeo nodded. "Clearly."

Race shook his head in shock. "You'se crazy, Romeo."

Romeo grinned, too. "I sure am."

They heard more shouts come from outside. Race could have sworn he'd heard Crutchie's voice sounding really panicked. They exchanged worried glances."We better get back out there." Race sighed.

Romeo nodded again, and they both began to stand up.

"But, hey," Race pointed at Romeo as they made their way over the boxes. "No more comin' in on fights, ya hear me? You already got one big shiner. We'se just gonna help the other guys get outta there. Make sure no one else gets tossed in the Refuge."

"Alright," Romeo agreed.

They reached the end of the alley, but before the stepped back out into the chaos, Race sighed and said, "They woulda gotten me, wouldn't they?"

"Yeah," Romeo said. "I saw Snyder walkin' up behind ya while Oscar was soakin' ya. You was done for."

Race looked at his feet, then back up at Romeo. "Thanks, kid."

Romeo grinned. "Same goes for you."


End file.
